Chapter Four
Alaric
“What the hell are you doing?” I heard myself say.
I turned on Assobine Avenue, way at the end of town where the upper middle-class plebes live, oblivious that anything but brunch and Starbucks goes on in the world. Natalia had finally emerged from the taxi she’d caught, and now she was strolling into a strip mall like she knew where she was going.
I went down a street, but when I looked in the mirror, I saw that she had no idea she was being followed, so I turned off the lights and swung around into the parking lot behind a Starbucks.
I was used to tracking down thugs, who are paranoid, or higher-ups, who have usually been trained in some kind of counter-surveillance. So my first thoughts were that Natalia had a plan.
But no: she just sat down behind a Chapters bookstore. In plain sight. And didn’t even watch her ass.
Fuck.
I had gone into the situation half-cocked. Normally, my targets were men, and normally the job was something else entirely. I should have just scared Natalia the old-fashioned way. I should have researched her better, more like a target, less like a debt. And one thing I definitely shouldn’t have done—or be doing—was think about Natalia the way I was thinking about her.
I could see a few things more clearly now: Natalia was in way over her head, and she didn’t understand the game at all. What I couldn’t figure out is what kind of deal she’d struck with Andrej, or how she even struck it.
What was my plan? I didn’t even have a good explanation for why I was watching her. Something about her attracted me to her, but hell if I was going to let that kind of muddied thinking rise to the surface of my mind. I had done what I needed to do—in fact, I’d gone above and beyond any kind of call of duty that could be expected, considering that it would cost me nothing to leave town, right then, and get on with my life.
The thing I’d learned about this life, though, was that if you don’t live up to your code, you have to live with that forever.
But I had lived up to it. I’d kept an eye on Natalia, and I’d scared her off working for Andrej. There was no reason I couldn’t just walk away with a clear conscience.
No reason.
Pretty hair, soft blue eyes, a soft, helpless center masquerading under a tough exterior and long legs—these were not reasons to get involved. In anything. You could find a hot girl anywhere. I could get any girl I wanted.
But Natalia had something that intrigued me, whether I was ready to admit it to myself or not.
So there I was, getting involved in something I did not have to do. Breaking Rule #1 in this game: above all things, if you want to get out alive, look out for yourself, andonly yourself. If you’re doing anyone a favor, do it because it paysyou.
This had a payoff of zero. Zero street cred, zero rep, zero money, zero code, zero clear conscience. So what the fuck was I doing?
I was not too far from her when she lit up a cigarette. It wasn’t hard to sneak up on her, and I’m good at what I do. So I heard her distinctly when she said there were stars, and then she fell over. Went down like a dead body.
My thoughts went first to a sniper. She crumpled so quickly, my first thought was a sniper. Drugs never occurred to me. Jake had only seen her remain sober when everyone else did them.
I scanned the area. Nothing.
Gun in hand, all my senses on alert, I crept toward her.
Nothing.
I felt her pulse. It was weak, slow, her respiration shallow. “Natalia,” I said.
Nothing.
It’s not a good idea, I thought.
